


Menagerie

by zealousvagrant



Series: Askbox Fics: SS Broh [4]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Broh, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, M/M, too cute for words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-23
Updated: 2012-07-23
Packaged: 2017-11-10 12:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/466564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zealousvagrant/pseuds/zealousvagrant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iroh finds strange-looking rocks in the Earth Kingdom and brings them to Bolin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Menagerie

The six smooth, green rocks tumble from the blue velvet pouch onto Bolin’s coffee table. Iroh sits across from him, a blush threatening to take over his cheeks. The general has been docked in the bay for a total of two hours, and already he’s in the earthbender’s apartment, sharing the souvenirs of his latest tour to the Earth Kingdom.

“They reminded me of you.”

Bolin picked one up and examined it. There was a strange weight to them, and as he held them in his hands, he immediately knew what they were. His face lit up.

Iroh smiled back, reaching across the table to press his lips against Bo’s. His hand curled into his hair, enjoying how nice it was to finally have his friend back. 

“Do you like your gift? I don’t know what they are.”

Bolin grinned. This was gonna be awesome.

=========

It took a lot of convincing, but Iroh took one of the mysterious stones with him once he set sail again.

“I have one and you have one. It’s an instant connection to me.”

It had been difficult to conceal his glee at the entire situation, trembling with the glee of a prankster. Regardless of his mischief, Bo couldn’t help but be honest as he murmured these words against his shoulder, his arms wrapped around the general’s waist as they spooned in the morning.

“I wish I didn’t have to go.”

“Me too.”

Knowing the surpirse Iroh would get in a few days only made it sweeter.

========

“BIG BRO! COME QUICK! CHECK IT OUT!”

Bolin’s voice rang out, clear as a bell in the hazy morning, rousing Mako from his deep sleep. He padded into the living room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, yawning.

“Bo, this better not be Pabu licking his butt again,” Mako grumbled, simultaneously annoyed and endeared at his younger brother’s intense love of animals.

His mumblings were cut short, however, when he saw the mass of fluff on the coffee table. At first, he could only see colors: red and brown and yellow and dark green, moving together like a kaleidoscope. Then his eyes focused, making out the shape of a tail, pointy ears, the curve of a shell- wait.

“Is that-?”

“Yep!” Bolin chirped.

“Were those-?”

“Uh-huh!”

“And he-?”

“Affirmative!”

“He’s gonna blow a gasket, Bo.”

“That’s what I’m aiming for!” he squealed, flailing on the old sofa.

Korra comes in, peeking around Mako’s back with an enthusiastic glint in her sleepy eyes. She took it all in: a dozing Pabu curled up with five bright yellow chicks, their dark green shells glinting in the sunlight, a rough, bumpy relief to the impossibly soft down on their necks and tails. One of them slept peacefully under Pabu’s tail, undisturbed by the commotion Bolin and Mako were making, and two others snuggled on Pabu’s white belly, rising and falling with the gentle exhales of the fire ferret. A fourth was tucked into his shell, leaving only a tiny tail poking out, and the fifth was on its back, perfectly balanced on the apex of its dark emerald armor.

“TURTLEDUCKS!”

===========

“Turtleducks!?”

“Yeah, isn’t it awesome?”

“Bo, you know I can’t have pets on the ship.”

“You’ve never had pets on the ship,” he corrected. “So you don’t actually know if you’re incapable of it.”

“Bolin-“

“Yeah?”

“You are impossible.”

“Yeah, yeah. Has yours hatched yet?”

Iroh sighed wearily, holding the receiver to his ear and twiddling with the cord. These communicators were so handy, but they just made him miss Bolin even more than he ever thought possible. He took a look at the offending animal, who had been hiding in its shell since the moment it saw the general.

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Well, you just have to bring him out of his shell. It’s easy.”

“I did it for you,” added the earthbender, the love dripping from every syllable like aloe pulp. “Remember?”

Iroh remembered. 

He remembered the long late-night conversations, the constant invitations for friendly sparring, the countless innocent “Oh-Iroh-can-you-read-this-for-me? I-like-this-theater-girl-and-I’m-trying-to-impress-her”s, the stolen glances and lingering touches, and the steadfast employment of which the general leapt out of his bubble and into Bo’s arms.

“I remember.”

**Author's Note:**

> posted on tumblr: http://atomic-comic.tumblr.com/post/26480166413/askbox-fics-menagerie


End file.
